Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts +

Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts and practices without interlinking it with Hinduism.

 As we peep into the annals of religious history: ~

Hinduism came into existence with its own code of conduct beliefs, and rituals after the 8th century. Hinduism, as one knows it today, is of recent origin.

“Hinduism did not really achieve its status as a coherent though still baffling, religious complex until after the establishment of the British rule in India.

Hindus are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe their inherited beliefs as the ultimate truth.

Hindus traditionalists refuse to debate whether the Vedic people practiced cow slaughter and ate beef. They believe such a debate is irreligious.

In discussing the Vedic religion it is also to be remembered that in the course of history, many non-Aryan elements entered into the Vedic religion. The Vedic Aryans freely borrowed elements from the culture and the society around them. But we cannot say with precision, which are the non-Aryan elements in the Vedic Religion.

Therefore, the thesis of the direct ancestry of Hinduism of today from the Vedic religion is to be considered as a myth purported by orthodoxy.

Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma is distinct from Hinduism. The Vedic religion or Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practiceinterlinkinger-linking it with Hinduism. Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa School which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition.

Remember:~

The Vedanta school also may have received a part of the inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal. However, in as much as elements from the Vedas have influenced some aspects of Hinduism, it may be considered as one of the many factors influencing Hinduism.

But by no means can it be maintained that Hinduism has its direct ancestry in the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. Therefore, Hinduism of Vedic times is an imagined community. Hinduism is of a much later origin, and a historical view of Indian religions would endorse a dichotomy between the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma and contemporary Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have a long ancestry as is often presumed or propagated by the Hindu ideologues. In fact, historically, religions like Buddhism and Jainism can claim greater antiquity than the Hinduism of today. Hinduism began to take a systematic form from the time of Sage Sri, Sankara (8thcentury A.D). In this sense, he may be considered as the ‘founder’ of Hinduism.

Temple worship, pilgrimages, Gods, and Goddesses are important to the Hindus. Hindu Gods are Rama, Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the respective consorts of the last three, namely, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Shakti. None of these deities figured prominently in the Vedic pantheon and some of them are clearly non-Vedic. The major Gods of Hinduism like Vishnu and Shiva are non-Aryan in origin. Though they may have belonged to the Vedic tradition they played no major role in the Vedas. The more important religious sects among the Hindus, like Vaishnavism, Saivism, and so on, did not have a Vedic origin but had come into existence in much recent times.

Originally Shiva and the cult of the Mother Goddess belonged to the religion of the Indus Valley people. As one goes in deeper into the annals of the Indian religious history Vishnu and Shiva cult is a melting of at least two cultures, if not three, namely, the Aryan culture, the pre-Aryan culture of the Ganges Valley, and the Indus Valley culture. These three cultures were closely knit by the first century of Christianity and in the later period underwent further developments, and probably also a fourth tradition of the indigenous tribes that stood outside the four classes of the caste system as outcastes.

Vedic worshippers did not use temples and idols as Hindus of today do. For them, the sacrificial rituals were more important than the temple or idol worship the major Hindu feasts of today are based on the epic feats of Rama and Krishna and the Puranic lore pertaining to Shiva and the Goddess.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of non-Vedic God s and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God has been described as ~

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is  Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the  Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig Veda 1/164/46: ~ “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan.

Rig Veda 8/58/2:~ Only One is the Fire, enkindled in numerous ways; only One is the Sun, pervading this whole universe; only One is the Dawn, illuminating all things. In very truth, the One has become the whole world.

The nature of Brahman or God is 

v Sakshi (Witness)

v Chetan (conscious)

v Nirguna (Without form and properties)

v Nitya (eternal)

v Shuddha (pure)

v Buddha (omniscient)

v Mukta (unattached).

The nature of the Atman (Soul) is: ~

v Witness

v conscious

v Without form and properties

v eternal

v pure

v omniscient

v unattached

Thus, it refers to the formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost Self within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self. Thus Atman or Soul, the   ‘Self’ is God.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

 When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself then why accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

People, who worship the belief in personal  Gods are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme Self i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

Yajur Veda indicates that: ~ “They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. - (Yajurved 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."- (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed.

When the religion of the Veda knows no idols then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

In place of the Vedic religion, a newly modified belief system was introduced in the name of Sanatan Dharam, or Vedic Religion to uplift the Vedic culture and Santana Dharma, which were in ruins in the clutches of foreign invaders. 

Sage Sankara never used the name Hinduism anywhere.  The new belief system introduced by Sage Sankara was not named Hinduism. After the 8thcentury many Saints founded new casts, cults, and sects with diverse traditions or paramparas ideologies including Sage Sankara's paramparas were named as Hinduism by British Raj.  All the castes come under the umbrella of the s Hinduism. 

That is why Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? (Swami Vivekananda ~ Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900)

 As indicated in ISH Upanishads: - By worshipping God s and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of God s and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of God s and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus, you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that: -If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual God s, Goddesses, and gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead, spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.

Since it is eternal and infinite, it comprises the only truth. The goal of Vedic religion, through the various yogas, is to realize that the consciousness (Atman) is actually nothing but Brahman.

The Vedic pantheon of Gods is said, in the Vedas and Upanishads, to be the only higher manifestations of Brahman. For this reason, "ekam sat" (all is one), and all is Brahman.

Thus, the goal is to realize Atman (consciousness). If Atman (consciousness) is nothing but Brahman and by realizing Atman (consciousness) as Brahman (ultimate truth) is truth realization or Self-Realization, then there is no need to follow a religion, study scriptures or glorify God s or gurus and follow the path of doubts and confusion by losing oneself in the labyrinths of philosophy, when there is an easier path. By mentally tracing the source of the mind from where it rises and subsides one becomes aware of the fallacy of the mind, which rises as waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep. The mind rises from consciousness and subsides as consciousness.

Yajurveda says: ~

If one worships what is not God in truth: ~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc.).

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) - (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2.

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent. ("Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." -(Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. - (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."- (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed.  

When the religion of the Veda knows no idols then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different. Many may even argue that it is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" was not developed by the practitioners, but by groups outside of the religions as a means for labeling the entire Indian people.

Remember:~

Vedic religion was modified and reintroduced with new add-ons by Sage Sri, Sankara a great Advaitin Sage to uplift the Vedic culture and Santana Dharma, which were in ruins in the clutches of Buddhism.

 18 Puranas are introduced in the name of Veda Vyasa the dualist's Sages because the Puranic Gods are non-Vedic Gods. Worship of Such Gods is barred by Vedas.

 As one goes deeper into the annals of history, it indicates the fact that somewhere someone has added the Puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa the grandmaster of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced Puranas which have all conceptual God s.

The Avatara and caste system are not Vedic in origin. The theory of Avatara (‘descend’) of God s which is very important to modern Hinduism is non-Vedic. The term Avatara (…) is not found in the earlier Vedic texts, and is absent from the older Sanskrit glossaries”.

Vedas are not the important sacred scriptures for the Hindus. The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For most Hindus of today, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. In addition, God s and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones.

The collection of hymns called Vedas written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus of today. Most Vedic Gods do not find a place in Hinduism.

 Rig Veda ~ consists of about 10,500 verses ― there is only one occasion where there is mention of a return to this world after death. What is implied here is that it cannot be taken as important teaching of the Rig Veda.:~Santthosh Kumaar